Catgroove

Aidan was running in is animagus form through the forest, at a steadfast pace, not to hunt, but simply to get some energy out of his system. He was still more than pissed off about how his relationship with Mackenzie had ended and needed some distraction. He snarled at some weird-looking creature which quickly sped away from him and he laughed inwardly, leaping out of the woods before coming to a halt by the waterfall. It always had a calming effect on him, listening to the sound of the water rushing towards the ground and he rested for a few moments, lying on his side with his eyes closed.

Lyra ventured further into the Forbidden Forest than she usually allowed herself to. The place had always made her feel a little uneasy, but this time was different. She was curious about something, though she had no idea what. Slipping between the low-hanging foliage of a few trees, she came out to see a waterfall flowing. It was almost as though the hidden beauty of the place was drawing her in as she walked closer, her steps small and quiet. But she was not alone as she had originally thought. A tiger lay only a few paces from her and she halted, taking in a sharp gasp. Logic said that she should back away, leave the animal to its rest. But she didn't. Once again, she moved forward, her gaze never leaving the animal as she skirted around it so that she could sit on a large rock by the waterfall. Watching the feline, she tilted her head a little to the left and waited to see what it would do.

His senses immediately picked up on a human being's presence and the tiger's ears flicked curiously when he heard a soft gasp. Slowly, he turned his large head towards the girl and opened his eyes, peering at her calmly. It was one of the other students, a Ravenclaw from his year with whom he shared some classes; a Malfoy, he thought, watching her closely. It was interesting, to say the least, that her first instinct was not to run away from such large an animal, but to come closer and seat herself not far from him and it amused him to think that maybe large cats were not the strangest creatures you could encounter in the forbidden forest. For a moment Aidan was caught between wanting to show his true appearance to set her at ease and to remain in his animagus form, but in the end, he decided on the latter, so see her reaction. Slowly, he rose and trotted over to her, making sure to keep his posture non-threatening, at least as much as possible, and sniffed her once. Somehow, she gave off an air of tranquility that set him at ease and he purred slightly.

Lyra sat, listening to the sound of the water falling onto the rocks behind her as she watched the feline intently. It was majestic, really, and quite beautiful. Him, she decided. It was a male. She had no idea what such an animal was doing in the forest, but she had learned that many things were not as they seemed in their world. As she watched, the animal rose from it’s relaxed state, and she momentarily froze. Logic once again told her to get away from the wild animal, but her gut told her that it was okay. A small smile graced her lips as the tiger sniffed her, and she reached her hand out before she could realise what she was doing. Dropping her hand into her lap, she instead offered the animal a genuine smile and said, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The tiger's flews drew back to bare his teeth in an animalistic smile when he heard her words that seemed so ironic as she was facing a tiger that could easily hurt her if he wanted. Of course, Aidan had no intention of doing so and instead nudged the girl's hands with his snout to show her that she could touch him if she wanted. Sometimes, it was so easy for him to forget that he was human when his instincts took over in animagus form. It was actually quite a relief to simply let go of all the responsibilities he had as a wizard and just enjoy himself for a while. His parents had warned him not to spend too much time in this form, but so far, he never had any problems changing back. Turning slightly, the tiger lay down again, resting his large head in her lap.

Lyra tilted her head, her dark hair flowing over her shoulder as she watched the tiger.. smile. It was both strange and enticing, and she knew that she’d been right. This animal had no intention of hurting her, whether logic agreed or not. Chewing on her lip lightly, the girl responded to the nudge by reaching out and running gentle fingers over the tiger’s cheek. His fur was soft, much more than she had expected, and she felt the urge to nuzzle her face into it. But she didn’t want to do anything to frighten the animal away, so instead when it laid down and rested its head in her lap, she simply continued to stroke its fur, as she spoke again. “What is something as beautiful as you doing out here?” she asked, knowing that it was stupid to talk to something that could not talk back, but not caring since there was not anybody around to hear her.

For a few moments, Aidan just stayed exactly where he was, purring softly with his eyes closed, almost falling asleep to the soft rushing sound of the nearby waterfall and the girl's calm breathing while she stroked his fur. It was most relaxing and he always felt like melting into a puddle of goo when someone petted him in his animagi form. When she spoke up again, startling him back into wakefulness, he blinked up at her, just now reminded that he was not really a tiger and that it could be seen as quite indecent to not show his true nature to the unsuspecting girl. He was, after all a wizard, one of her classmates even.
Someone, thinking about his real form, made Aidan form back into it without really intending to and he quickly moved backwards with a sheepish smile on his face. "Hey ... erm ... sorry?" he tried, laughing awkwardly while trying to think of a suitable excuse for why he had not turned earlier.

Lyra loved the feel of soft fur and warmth against her legs. It made her feel comfortable- the kind of comfortable that would lead her to fall asleep without realising when she sat on the couch with her mother. It somehow made her feel at home, like she could rest there and nothing could possibly happen to her. Or perhaps she simply felt safe, even if the being that was causing that feeling happened to be rather dangerous.

It surprised her that she had just been thinking about sleep, as after only a few moments she could almost no long resist the urge to lay her face down against the tiger’s head and close her own eyes. Lyra would have done so had the animal not moved away from her, as though startled by something that she had not noticed. With confusion evident in her eyes, she watched as the mass of fur and warmth stopped being so and was replaced by a boy who she recognised. Eyes wide, she suddenly felt self conscious. The boy had heard her as she spoke to the tiger.. him, and he would most likely think she was all kind of crazy. And then there was the fact that he had been the beautiful animal whom she had almost allowed herself to fall asleep on. Despite her thoughts racing at a mile a minute, the only words that left her lips were, “why did you change back? I was getting sleepy.”

Sitting back on his heels, Aidan watched the girl in front of him carefully, waiting for her reaction to his sudden appearance. This could go several ways, from her hexing him, to her just walking away, but maybe she would just laugh and don't mind it, which would, to be honest, the way he preferred it. The Ravenclaw seemed startled, not a big surprise there, but at the same time, he could also feel her tense up where before she had been completely relaxed. How easy it sometimes was to feel more at ease with animals than with humans, Aidan thought before turning his attention back towards her when she started to speak. "Erm ... I didn't want to seem like I'm deceiving you or something." he muttered, still looking rather sheepish, though her question was not at all what he had expected. It made him smile a little at her. "I can change back if you want, I thought it was rather comfortable as well." Aidan said, grinning slightly to ease the tension again.

Lyra supposed that his reasoning was sound, though that didn't stop her from being a little disappointed. Maybe next time she could see how comfortable his tiger was to sleep on- Woah, don't get ahead of yourself, Lyra, she though firmly before returning her focus to the boy before her.

"No, it's okay," she said with a smile as she examined him for a few moments, "I think that the surprise has made sure I'm wide awake now, anyway." Deciding that she was still comfortable with the boy, even if not quite enough to fall asleep, and bright smile spread over her lips as she held out her hand to shake in the small distance between them. "I'm Lyra," she said, "it's my pleasure to meet you."

Adian chuckled and sat down next to her, pulling up his knees to rest his chin on them. It was weird to talk to someone after being in his animagi form for so long, but the girl seemed chill enough and so he relaxed quite quickly. "Nice to meet you, Lyra." he said, reaching for her offered hand to shake it with a warm smile on his face. "I'm Aidan, at least when I'm in human form." he added grinning. "I haven't thought of a name for my other form, yet. It's fairly new, you know?" Aidan had just managed the transformation a few weels ago and not even his friends knew about it yet.

Lyra nodded in understanding, and spoke softly so she didn’t disturb the quiet that was this part of the forest. “I’ve heard it’s quite the task to become an animagus,” the Ravenclaw said thoughtfully, “so either you’ve got really good help or you're rather intelligent.” Her words were teasing, though they were likely true. The animagus transformation isn’t a simple one, and the potions and spellwork took a lot of patience and finesse. At least, that is what the books said. “I suppose you think I’m a little stupid,” she said, chuckling to herself, “what kind of person just sits there with a wild animal so close to them, huh?” Though most would think that an animal that could be so dangerous should be avoided, Lyra had always been told to trust her instincts and hers had told her that she wasn’t going to get hurt.

Aidan's smile turned into a proud beam at her words, but he quickly waved them off. "Maybe I'm just very hard-working." he gave back with a wink. "When I want something, I go after it till I get it, no matter what." It had taken him months to finally manage the transformation and more often than he cared to admit, he had wanted to give up and just leave the skill for the more intelligent wizards and witches. Every time he lost his concentration, every time, he changed back to quickly, every time he was completely naked after such a sudden transformation, but in the end his stubborn pride which seemed to be so typical Gryffindor had not let him give up easily and urged him on to finish his training. Because of all this hard work, he was quite proud of his achievement and it felt good to finally share his success with someone. "You know, you are actually the first person that finds out about this. Even my parents and best friends don't know, yet." he told her honestly. Aidan had wanted to surprise his friends with this, but so far he hadn't found the right moment.

Shaking his head to focus back on the girl in front of him, Aidan smiled at her and shook his head. "Stupid? Nah, not at all, I'm sure you're pretty smart. A little crazy maybe to enjoy the company of a tiger, but then again, I know I can be very charming." he laughed and tried to give her his most charming grin.

Lyra noticed the way that Aidan waved her words off, and she figured that he was also modest. Usually Gryffindors were either humble or arrogant, though more often than not they were quite capable of being both. Her brother, Altaïr, though.. he was mostly arrogant. “Well, then it must have been a lot of hard work, then,” she said, before adding with a teasing smirk, “I don’t know if that is admirable or naïve. Don’t you think that sometimes it is worth giving up on something?” Personally, Lyra had given up trying to get her grandfather’s attention. The Greengrass patriarch had not spoken a word to her in her entire life. Unlike when her oldest sibling was born, when he had shown up in the hopes of persuading her mother to return to his ideals. He’d given up such things by the time it had come to her birth, and she had never stood a chance. Yet she wrote, every week for a while, then monthly. Then, slowly, she stopped, and she new that her letters probably weren’t even being opened before they were tossed into the fireplace.

The Ravenclaw blinked in slight surprise at the admittance, and for some reason she felt a little bad. “You haven’t told anybody at all?” she asked, turning to face the boy fully, “I’m so sorry. I am certain that I am not the person you wanted to share this with first.” The girl tried to push the feeling away, before she chuckled. “Oh, well I would say a little crazy could describe it,” she replied, returning his smile as she rolled her eyes, “yes, extremely charming. Especially when offering warm fur in the cool forest.”

Aidan crooked his head to the side in thought and observed the Ravenclaw for a few moments, pondering her question. He knew he wasn't the smartest or the most cunning person, but he had never seen himself as naive, so he shook his head at her. "I'm just very determined, you see?" he smirked slightly at her. "When I put something in my mind, I continue to pursue this aim till I reach it. I wouldn't call that naive ... stubborn perhaps." Aidan laughed and rubbed his neck sheepishly. That was something he had been accused of before, but it also seemed to be a common Gryffindor trait. But stubbornness could really be useful quite often. Well ... when it didn't get him in trouble. "If you give up on something, then maybe because you have decided that it isn't not all that important after all. I wouldn't waste my time on something unimportant either." he added thoughtfully, noticing that she seemed to be speaking of experience.

Holding up his hands in a calming gesture, Aidan quickly shook his head. "Oh no, don't worry! Actually, it's quite good to be able to tell someone I don't know that well, yet. My parents and friends will probably react a little different ... not necessarily more positive." he winced sheepishly, thinking of how his parents would be mad for working on such a difficult transformation without help and his friends might even be angry for being excluded from it for so long. Aidan loved his friends! But sometimes he just needed something for himself. No, it was so much easier to just talk to this Ravenclaw girl whom he barely knew. She seemed kind and understanding and had this typical Ravenclaw curiosity that he found quite charming. At her last comment, Aidan burst out laughing and fell back into the grass, looking up at her. "I'm always happy to be of service to you, milady." he teased.